Colors and Paintbrushes
by SkyMaiden
Summary: Ino needs to come up with a stunning peice of work for her art class otherwise she will fail the course. How does her best friend Naruto factor into the equation. Naruto x Ino


**A/N:** **Hi all it is I your favorite maiden back from god knows where to keep bringing the awesomeness that is my work lol. Just kidding. But yeah I'm back to writing again some what, enjoy all the new stuff I have for you all.**

**Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Naruto and co.**

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The sound of rough sketching could be heard as a 4H art pencil was moving back and forth on a piece of paper. The artist, a beautiful blonde-haired female with bright aqua colored orbs was busy sketching away in her book. Her attention focused solely on her work. There was nothing that could possibly distract her from her drawing. The young woman would look up occasionally but then would go back to drawing, erasing here and there as she went along. This drawing had to be absolutely perfect otherwise she didn't even want to look at the final product. Ino paused, taking a look at what she had drawn so far. She wasn't completely satisfied and it left her feeling frustrated.

"Ugh." She groaned and slammed her fist down on to the paper.

"Hey, taking your anger out on that piece of paper wont solve anything." She heard a voice.

"Huh?" The blonde female blinked.

She turned around to see a tall spiky-haired blond. His intense cerulean blue pools staring down into her aqua ones. She gave a warm smile and he smiled back.

"Oh, hey there Naruto."

"Hey Ino-chan, you're hard at work I see."

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's not going too well though."

Naruto looked at the sketch and then looked at her with a curious expression. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with her drawing.

"Uh, what's wrong with it? It looks fine to me."

Ino frowned slightly. She of course wouldn't expect Naruto to be able to see the many faults within her drawing. The boy simply did not have the eye of an artist.

"I can't expect you to see how full of crap this sketch is, but it's definitely garbage."

The platinum-blonde crumpled up the piece of paper and tossed it into the nearby garbage.

"You're an amazing artist Ino-chan. You're just too hard on yourself."

"I just want it to be perfect." She said honestly.

Naruto gently placed a hand on to her shoulder. He disliked seeing his friend down like this. He'd much rather have her smiling and laughing any day than in this semi-depressed mod.

"Hey I know, come on Ino-chan lets go." He suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up from the spot on the ground. Ino looked slightly stunned by his random behavior.

"What?" she mouthed silently.

Ino said nothing and let the spiky-headed blond lead the way to their destination, who was she to protest any of this. She would go along with whatever he had planned. She soon noticed that the two of them were standing near the docks by the pier. She blinked a couple of times in order to process the scene before her.

"Uh, Naruto why are we here?" she immediately wondered.

"It's quiet here. I like to come here and think sometimes, sit okay Ino-chan."

He led her over to a nearby bench so that she could sit down. He told her that he would be right back and to wait for him. She thought that it was rude of him to just guide her here and leave so suddenly. Ino was about to pull out her sketchbook again so that she could re-attempt to draw something but suddenly became distracted by the sounds of the rushing green-blue waves. There was something so beautiful about being near the water and watching as the boats passed by. She imagined that this spot would be especially lovely during sunset.

"He's right it is really quiet here, so peaceful."

She looked up when a soda and hotdog was placed in front of her.

"Hm." She looked up to see Naruto grinning down at her.

"I thought that you might be hungry."

"Thank you Naruto I was actually pretty hungry."

He sat down besides her, taking a sip of his own drink and a bite of his own hotdog. Ino wasted no time in eating. She was glad that he actually remembered just how she liked her hotdog.

"Mm," she let out a satisfied sigh.

"It has ketchup, mustard, and sauerkraut just the way you like it Ino-chan." He smiled.

The two friends ate in silence for awhile. The only sounds heard were the birds flying up above, the cool rushing waves, and the gentle blowing of the leaves.

"This is a really good spot Naruto."

"Yeah, I wanted to bring you here so you could sit and relax for a bit. You were stressing yourself out back there."

Ino nodded, agreeing with him. She had been on the verge of a breakdown because she had been indeed stressing out over the picture that she had been sketching.

"Yeah, I was getting a little stressed back there."

"I haven't seen you get so stressed about a drawing in a long time. What's going on Ino-chan?"

The blue-eyed female sighed and leaned back against the bench.

"I have to come up with a killer piece for art class or I'll end up failing the course. I was hoping to start sketching in order to get the creative juices flowing."

"Ah," Naruto nodded. "You need to just take it easy and let the inspiration come to you. Art can't be rushed Ino-chan you know that better than anyone."

The platinum-blonde gave a slight nod because she knew that he was indeed right. True creative genius could not be rushed. Art, like anything else had to take time, sometimes even taking several years in order to produce one single masterpiece. In short great thing could never be rushed. She should know that better than anyone.

"Yeah I know that you're right Naruto, but this is important. I might fail this course if I don't come up with a really great piece." Ino sighed. "I haven't been able to come up with anything really amazing."

She took a long sip of her soda. Naruto hated that she was feeling so down on herself at this moment. He wanted Ino back to her cheerful self.

"You will Ino-chan I have tons of faith in you."

She smiled at the blond-haired male. He always did make her feel better about things, even if it was something simple like a few words. She loved the presence he held in her life. He was her absolute best friend in the entire world.

"Well, at least someone does."

Naruto placed his hand to her head and gently patted her hair.

"Will you quit being so hard on yourself Ino-chan. You'll be fine I know it."

After a few minutes longer the friends got up from the bench and were now on their way. Ino found herself staring at various buildings and all of the different surroundings. The platinum-blonde had been hoping for any sort of spark of inspiration. Only for her inspiration seemed to be very limited, no matter how hard she tried to find some, any type of inspiration she couldn't find any.

"**I know Naruto** **is right but I still**…." She thought.

"Hey I have an idea Ino-chan."

"What is it?" she wondered as she was now curious.

Naruto shot her his classic smile.

"I want you to meet me tonight at the beach okay."

"Uh, sure. I'll be there."

"Meet me at our spot ok. The one we always used to meet up at, the one by the rocks."

It had been a long time since she'd last been to the beach so it took a few moments for her to remember just where he was talking about.

"Oh yea." Ino nodded, remembering finally the spot that he was referring to. "Okay I'll see you there."

"Okay great, bye for now."

"Bye Naruto."

From there Naruto and Ino went their separate ways. She would meet up with him again later that night. The young artist returned home and immediately opened up her sketchbook. She flipped through a few pages, taking the time out to look at some of her previous drawings. She stopped at a blank page and stared at it for a few minutes. Her hand reaching for a pencil, but she paused midway. There was no point in attempting to do anything when she had no idea what to draw in the first place. Ino, who was now frustrated she closed her eyes and put the book away. The blonde female went to her room so she could lay down for awhile. The young woman's mind had been so preoccupied with other things, and now she just really needed to take a break for awhile. She closed her eyes immediately upon putting her head down on the pillow. The platinum-blonde found herself in a very interesting dream world. The young woman saw herself in a void surrounded by nothing but white.

"Hello?" she called out but wasn't expecting to receive an answer.

"Hey, Ino-chan." She soon heard a familiar voice.

"Naruto," a small smile spread across her face. She turned around to see her spiky-haired friend standing before her. The only thing was that he was standing there in absolutely no clothing. Her eyes fell instantly on to his rock hard abs and chiseled chest. The boy most certainly kept in pretty good physical condition. Ino's cheeks flushed red slightly.

"Uh, um Naruto?"

"Hey." He nodded.

"Where…." She started. "Uh…."

"What's wrong?"

"Where are your clothes?"

"Oh." Naruto grinned. "You don't like this look. I was hoping that it might turn you on."

Ino felt her face flush again. Why the hell was Naruto saying such words to her? More importantly why was she letting his words affect her in such a way.

"Naruto I…" she began.

The blond male reached over, pressing his hand to her cheek and gave her a small smile. Naruto then pressed his moth to hers. She was taken by complete surprise but soon relaxed into his kiss; something about it seemed so familiar, so comfortable. She found herself wanting to remain like this with him forever, before long though their kiss was over and the dream ended. Ino awoke with a slight start, her heart pounding slightly. She put her hand over her chest in an attempt to calm herself down.

"Naruto," she whispered. "Do I have these feelings for you?"

The platinum-blonde then got up from the comfort of her bed and decided to go ahead and meet Naruto down at the beach. The sun was just really starting to go down as she walked on to the beach. The sunset was so pretty and intense right now. By the time the blonde female got down to the spot by the rocks, she couldn't help but notice the beautiful shades of oranges, pinks, and blues that seemed to fill up the entire sky.

"_Wow."_ She thought the colors looking as if someone had personally painted them up there themselves.

"Wait," she wondered. "Where the hell is Naruto, don't tell me that goofball forgot and isn't going to show up."

She folded her arms and was about to let a frown spread across her face when a splash of water caught her attention.

"Huh?" She turned around to see the figure of a man emerging from the water. She caught a glimpse of blond colored hair. Ino found herself staring intensely at the man wearing nothing except for a pair of dark-colored swim trunks. She couldn't help but stare at the way the sun glistened down on his wet, shirtless form. The man stood there for a minute, before smiling widely and waving to Ino.

"_He knows me?"_ she thought.

The figure began running towards her. She found herself completely mesmerized by the sight of him. He looked like a moving piece of art making its way towards her.

"Ino-chan!"

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts right away.

"N-Naruto?" she questioned, feeling very foolish for not immediately noticing that it was indeed him. The young man stopped a few feet in front of her.

"Hey," he smiled. "I'm really glad that you made it."

"Y-yeah." She spoke in a whisper.

Naruto looked down at his blue-eyed female with concern.

"Hey," he put his hand to her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything's fine."

"Okay." Naruto nodded.

Ino's mind was on some other things though, like how much inspiration she felt by seeing him emerge from the water in such a way. A part of her felt the need to run home, grab her sketchbook and begin drawing right away.

"Hey, um Naruto?"

"Yeah Ino-chan, what's up?"

She suddenly hugged him in a tight embrace. The blue-eyed male seemed confused slightly but did nothing to stop her hug.

"Um," he wondered.

"Will you do me a really big favor? I want you to meet me at my apartment tomorrow."

"Um okay sure, but why?"

"You inspire me." She said simply. "Thank you." She whispered and placed a kiss on his cheek. She then let him go and began to leave.

"Thanks again Naruto."

"Um, sure but for what?" he whispered the last part because he wasn't really sure what it was that he had done. All he could do was watch as his platinum-blonde haired female left the beach and was gone from sight. It was all very weird to him but he had to admit he felt good about the fact that she had said he inspired her.

"I inspire you." He repeated in a whisper.

No person had ever told him that he had inspired them in anyway, and Ino wasn't just some person. She happed to be his best friend. She was someone's who opinion mattered to him. He had thought very highly of her. She was a person that he cared very deeply for.

"It's nice to know that I inspire you Ino-chan. You inspire me too."

The next afternoon the spiky-haired blond showed up at her apartment. He was greeted to the sight of Ino wearing nothing except for a long light blue-colored t-shirt that only seemed to bring out her aqua colored pools that was covered in a variety of paint stains, and a pair of short black shorts.

"Hi Ino-chan you look…" He paused.

"I look like crap." She finished and smiled. "These are my painting clothes. I always get dressed like this right before I start to paint."

"Oh," Naruto nodded. "I got it."

She invited him in to her apartment.

"Why did you want me to come over, not that I' am not happy to see you." He smiled.

She smiled back at him.

"Well you remember yesterday at the beach right?"

"Sure, I remember you running away from me really fast. Do I make you sick or something Ino-chan?" he teased gently.

"Of course not you idiot, it's because of you that I'm actually feeling so inspired right now. I haven't felt inspiration like this in a long time which leads me to the favor I wanted to ask you."

"Alright," the blond male nodded. "You know that I will help in anyway I can Ino-chan."

He was her best friend so she knew that he wouldn't really object in the helping part. The only thing now was would he really actually go through with it.

"Um…" She gave a hesitant smile.

"Tell me alright." He encouraged her.

"Well I need to come up with a really good piece for my art class. I finally came up with some last minute inspiration and its all thanks to you, so Naruto I was hoping…" she took a minute to pause. "I was hoping that you would be my model."

Naruto blinked a few times while trying to register and process her words.

"You don't want to do it do you? It's okay I understand."

"No it's not that Ino-chan, I'll do it. I just…I'm flattered I guess."

"Naruto, thank you, um there is one more thing."

"Okay what is it?"

"I need for you to be nude."

There was another moment of silence that filled the room. Ino knew for sure there was no way he would possibly agree to taking off all his clothes and posing nude for her. Ino had a vision that she wanted to stick to. She had a plan in mind that she had to follow.

"I understand if you're not comfortable Naruto."

"No it's fine I'll do it, anything to help you out Ino-chan." He gave her a bright smile.

The platinum-blonde breathed a sigh of relief and was grateful that he wasn't turned off by the news that she needed him to be nude for the painting.

"Thank you Naruto you are the best. You can go in the bathroom to change and then meet me out here once your ready ok?"

"Sure."

Ino began to set up her easel, gathering up all her supplies, and setting up the area that she wanted Naruto to sit at. The young man meanwhile stood in the bathroom for a moment beginning to rid himself of his clothing. The blond male was soon in nothing except for his boxers. He took a deep breath, still standing there not making any sudden movements to leave the bathroom just yet.

"Hey Naruto are you okay in there?" She soon asked.

"Y-Yeah," he stuttered slightly. "I'm fine. I'm coming ok."

He took a few more moments before exiting the bathroom. Ino was standing there with her back turned with Naruto standing there staring at her.

"Hey Ino-chan."

The platinum-blonde turned around and gave the blue-eyed male a smile. She saw that he was still standing there in a pair of boxers.

"Hey do you want me to turn around or something while you get out of your boxers?"

"Sure if you want to Ino-chan."

"Okay I just want for you to be comfortable. If you're not comfortable in any way we can stop immediately." She promised him.

Naruto nodded but had every intention on helping his friend complete her assignment, although he had never imagined posing nude for her. At the very least he could say that he had experienced something completely new and totally different. The spiky-haired blond took another breath and slowly rid himself of his black boxers. Ino on the other hand was trying very hard not to blush or anything; although at the moment certain thoughts were beginning to invade her mind. It wasn't as if she had ever fantasized about seeing Naruto naked or anything to that extent but here he was about to pose nude for her. How could she not think of certain things?

"Okay Ino-chan I'm ready."

"Alright," she nodded. "I want you to stand over there right next to that stool okay."

"Alright."

This wasn't her first time drawing a nude model. She was in a college level art class so of course she had the experience in drawing both male and female models nude. Yet this was a slightly different situation, this was Naruto and he was her best friend. You don't often think of picturing you best friend naked.

"He has a really good body." She couldn't help but notice.

He wasn't extremely muscular to the point where he looked like some steroid-crazed individual, but he was definitely well toned and had a chiseled chest, abs, and stomach. Her eyes wanted to travel lower for a split second but she made sure she kept her attention on his face. She didn't wish to make him feel uncomfortable in anyway, especially if he saw her just simply staring at his manhood.

"Okay look straight ahead, and if you get tired of holding that position just let me know."

"Right." He gave a slight nod.

"Alright." The platinum-blonde smiled brightly. "Let us begin."

It was then that the young artist went straight to work. All of her inspiration from the previous night hitting her like intense waves. Naruto kept his pose strong and firm and hardly moved at all.

"That's perfect Naruto." She whispered in praise.

He felt good to be complimented by her but kept his composure so that he wouldn't end up messing up the artist and her work. Ino was pleased with the way everything had been going. She had exactly the right color scheme in mind as well. After about twenty minutes she decided to see if perhaps he needed a break of sorts.

"Hey do you want to rest for awhile. I don't know, maybe get some water?"

"Okay that sounds good Ino-chan, hey how's it looking so far."

"Pretty damn good if I say so myself. It's only because I have a great model."

He smiled at her compliment trying hard not to appear as if he were blushing.

"Come over and see it."

The blue-eyed male came over to see what she had accomplished so far. It looked exactly like him, his spiky blond hair, and the whisker markings he had on his face from birth. The only thing that was missing from the portrait was his usual goofy grin he often had on his face.

"It looks great Ino-chan, but I always expect the best from you."

"Thanks. I'm glad you're not smiling though, not that you don't have a killer smile. It's just not the emotion I was trying to convey."

He nodded in understanding. The message was going for was strong, firm, powerful. He could see why she needed him to keep a serious face at this moment.

"You're amazing Ino-chan don't ever forget that."

"Thank you." She blushed rather heavily at his compliment. "I'm ready to begin again whenever you are."

After he got himself a glass a water they went straight back to work. Ino had every confidence that she might even get to begin painting today if possible. Ino paused for a split second when she realized she was now at his lower regions. She could always tell him to place a sheet over the rest of his body, or cover that part up somehow but that would be going against the entire vision she had in mind for her piece. The blonde female took a breath and allowed herself to really look down. Luckily the boy was not experiencing an erection or anything; otherwise some other thoughts would have invaded her mind. There he was currently lying limp with a thick patch of curly blond hair surrounding him. She then started to draw.

"You can't really do him much justice huh Ino-chan, since he's not at his full potential." Naruto teased.

"Huh?" She mouthed but then quickly realized what he was referring to. A hot blush covered her cheeks as her mind processed Naruto's comment. He had always liked to joke around and have fun a lot so his words didn't surprise her that much.

"Naruto you perverted baka." She chuckled lightly.

He just shot her his familiar bright smile.

"Relax Ino-chan. I was only kidding." He paused. "Mostly."

Ino said nothing more and went back to drawing and silence filled the air once more. Ino tried to be completely focused but her mind would occasionally run back to his previous remark. What would have happened if he had been erect right this moment? The blonde female wasn't sure how she would have reacted to it. What would she have done? She truly wasn't sure. Ino decided to put all other thoughts away and focused on completing the picture. Once she let everything go she was able to successfully complete her work. The only thing that was needed would be the color.

"It's damn good if I do say so myself." Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, Naruto come over here and check it out."

"Alright," the spiky-haired blond agreed.

He stood next to the platinum-blonde and stared at his image on paper. It was his spitting image it looked exactly like him in every way it would look especially good once she put some color to it. He couldn't wait to see the complete finished product.

"Damn Ino-chan that is amazing. You are awesome." He praised her.

The blue-eyed female felt her cheeks flush slightly again. She could only really handle but so much praise in one day. She gently pushed her friend against his arm.

"Cut it out Naruto you're making me blush too much here."

"Well you definitely deserve the praise Ino-chan."

The friends stood staring at the picture together.

"I should probably add some color to this soon."

"It's going to be really great when it has some paint to it."

The platinum-blonde nodded in agreement. It was bound to be amazing when the color was added it would only enhance and complete the portrait.

"Well thanks again for posing for me Naruto. I really appreciate it."

The blond male smiled warmly for his best friend.

"Sure thing Ino-chan. It wasn't so bad honestly I enjoyed it. It's always a pleasure to do a favor for a pretty girl."

Naruto walked away slightly with Ino staring after him with a highly curious expression on her face.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Her voice was slightly hesitant as if she really didn't know if she wanted to know the answer to that question. Naruto turned around giving her the thumbs up.

"Of course I do. I'm not blind Ino-chan you know that you're beautiful."

The blonde female started to make her way over to her blue-eyed friend.

"Naruto you're really sweet you know that."

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

They stood staring at each other for awhile.

"Ino-chan…"

"Naruto…"

Before either of them could stop it they were both leaning in for the kiss.

"_I really want to kiss her right now."_ He thought.

Their faces were drawing inches closer to one another. Naruto held her chin with his finger and whispered. "Ino-chan, I really want to kiss you right now."

Ino found herself whispering in a slightly shaky voice. "Go ahead, do it."

He captured her lips within his. The two blondes held their kiss for a few minutes. Ino relaxed herself into Naruto's kiss it felt so good to her and it felt right.

"God this feels so good."

"Her lips are soft and they taste like strawberries." He noticed the flavor of her lip gloss. Their kiss intensified slightly and got more passionate and heated. She carefully wrapped his arms around the taller blond's strong, sturdy shoulders. After a few moments of their warm lip lock they both pulled away for some air.

"Ino-chan I…"

"Shh," she whispered with her finger pressed against his lips. "That was… that felt really nice."

"Yeah, it did." He agreed. "Uh…" He looked down, realizing that he was still without his boxers. A slight blush covered his cheeks.

"Well if you don't need me for anything else I guess I could put my clothes back on."

Ino quickly snapped back to reality when he said this.

"Huh, oh yea sure. You can put your clothes back on thanks again Naruto."

The young man then went back into the bathroom to re-dress himself. Many of his thoughts were on Ino and their kiss. It did feel very nice. He found that he wouldn't have minded kissing her again. He did enjoy it.

"I wonder if she's thinking about it too."

Ino had been standing in the window her thoughts were indeed on Naruto and their kiss. It had felt nice.

"I don't think I would mind kissing him again. I wonder if he feels the same."


End file.
